Can You Live to 70, 80, 90 even 100 or more and Still Look and Feel Good, too? Chances Are Better Than Ever. Here’s How to Realize Your Potential.

I can say a little about this since I’m well on my way to 80. (2 more years) The trick is to think in terms of making many small, everyday choices….decisions that determine how the cells inside your body are affected by what you eat, don’t eat and how you treat your skin and hair in general. Also, just the way you think about aging and what you expect as each year passes influence how well you age. A “What will be, will be” attitude will NOT cut it!

Merely thinking about it will not get the job done either, as you well know…you must act! Time flies by so fast—faster it seems the older we become – so the time to take action is NOW! I

remember as if it were yesterday being a healthy,

happy 30-year-old, and today here I am, a healthy, happy septuagenarian, with three grandchildren, on the road to becoming a healthy, happy centenarian. I love it! The Bonus? Life, while making the journey, is better, more fun and more fulfilling, if I’m feeling great, and looking good along the way.. I have tried very hard to p-r-e-v-e-v-t things from “going wrong” with the cells in my body, and for less time in the doctor’s office. Most of us have that choice.

Scientists and statistics point to the fact that the number of us living 100 years or longer has been rising; and with recent medical advances and imminent breakthroughs, if we take care of ourselves, the chance of doing so is increasing dramatically….how wonderful. But we must do our part. Doctors are there to sew us up…to help us when we are sick. But they are not in our homes everyday telling us what we should be doing to strive for our best chance for a healthier, longer life. That’s up to each one of us.

The number of centenarians among us is growing by leaps and bounds. You can be one of them if you think ahead….PLAN AHEAD…IT WILL NOT HAPPEN WHILE SITTING ON THE COUCH EATING JUNK FOOD! (Sorry, but I just had to say that.)

As I have pointed out many times in the past, scientific studies prove that our genes account for only 30% of the aging process. 70% is due to our lifestyle and environment, choices we make ourselves and have control over, decisions we make on a day to day basis. (This study was done with 3000 sets of identical twins) We have heard of people born into a not so good gene pool yet were determined to defeat the issue. They had to work very hard to do it – live a different lifestyle- but they succeeded with determination.

When people try to TELL me it’s my genes… I TELL them about genes. My loving brother was 3 years younger than me and passed away, I’m sorry to say, 5 years ago weighing about 350 pounds. Harry was the first to admit it was due to his eating habits and lifestyle choices. For the last many years of his life he went through heart surgery, a knee replacement and had other issues. He was in pain much of the much of the time and was not able to walk very far. I miss him.

So now Lets Ask If Your Health Problems Are the Result of Your Genes Or Your Lifestyle? Consider this scenario:

A woman says she’s seriously overweight because she inherited her mother’s metabolism, and her mother claims that she “caught” her obesity from her mother’s genes. So, the woman goes through life, dangerously overweight, thinking she can’t do anything about it because it’s in her genes. The granddaughter sees her grandmother and mother and thinks the same “gene”, and so on.

Well, suppose their problem has nothing to do with their inherited metabolism. Suppose the grandmother just loved to cook and eat and was physically inactive, and it was that attitude and life style that was passed down, not “fat genes.”

In this scene, overweight has nothing to do with the woman’s genes, and I believe many other physical problems fall into this category, too, like lung cancer and smoking, heart disease and sedateness. Much is caused by the choices we make. Changing any damaging habit at any age helps tremendously toward a longer, healthier lifespan. Researchers say it’s never too late to start changing our ways for a better life. Most definitely there are people who have diseases that they had no control over. They seem to do everything right but bad things happen. But there is less of this than we should give credit to.

LOOK FOR PART 2 – NEXT OLEDA COLUMN: List of important things Oleda does to Live Younger Longer.

Biography: Oleda Baker, now 77, began her career as a high fashion model with the prestigious Wilhelmina Model Agency, in New York City. She is the author of ten books on beauty, health and anti-aging and one novel Reluctant Goddess. She is founder and CEO of Oleda and Company, Inc., her 40-year-old anti-aging products company for skin, hair, diet, energy, nutritional supplement products as well as special makeup. www.oleda.com . [email protected] Oleda is a visionary artist. Her oil paintings exhibited in museums and galleries around the country. www.oledaart.com.

I have been following Oleda Baker and her story for over a decade and have been quite amazed. The sum total of her advice on life really amounts to having a positive attitude and outlook and discipline. Sad to admit, I am much younger than her and have not heeded her advice. In actuality she is in better shape than me. I know her intent is not to shame or embarrass anyone but rather to enlighten and help. She looks nothing short of amazing for her age. Over the years I have scrutinized each photo of Oleda and do believe the authenticity she asserts. Now instead of scrutinizing Oleda I think I should better spend my time scrutinizing myself, lifestyle, and choices.